But Apple does have the manufacturing cost of supporting those bands on their devices. So, I can see why they are concerned. Not that it matters. They already sell inferior crap at a premium price. So, they would definitely pocket any savings rather than pass them on to consumers. But I'm certainly not surprised that greed a**ho**s are greedy a**ho**s.

The problem isn't in making a multi-band phone, but rather having the hardware needed to REJECT out-of-band signals and channels particularly when channels are spaced too tightly, without sufficient "guard bands". It means adding expensive and possibly bulky filters to the RF section and may even impact radio sensitivity. All in all, the 700Mhz allocations are a big mess.

Actually, CellStudent is probably the best advisor of this subject. If I remember correctly, he is an engineer that deals directly with cellphone operations including the antenna and radio aspects of wireless devices. Between CellStudent and WiWavelength, these two forum members can probably supply all of us with just about any technical knowledge you seek.

From what I gather from CellStudent's post, cost is far from being an issue here. If it was, he would not have gone out of his way to post his comment.

I'm not an engineer of any kind but I don't believe frequency chips are the problem for Apple. It just doesn't want to spend an extra couple dollars per device on filtration components. It wants everyone to conform to its rules an...(continues)

I hope Apple will have a hard time convincing the FCC to agree to this request. It greatly placates the largest carriers that have vested interests in these smaller rural areas. I suspect these carriers will keep their mouths shut during this time on the subject. Without having access to one of the country's most popular phones, anxious consumers of the smaller carriers could defect causing the meek to be unfairly singled out and to struggle in maintained business.

But it would be an issue. What is Apple's purpose in existance? To make money. That is their one and only purpose in existance. Just like every other company in the world. Even a lot of non-profit organizations are made to make the people working their money.

How will this make Apple money? Just because they have money doesn't mean they should spend it.

Apple can set ANY price it desires for its iphone. Period. This isn't about profits. It's about control. It's as simple as that. They want to sue everyone and yet when they get sued Obama bails them out. Well...can't have it two ways, bub. It's time to pay the piper. I'm not even a fan of this proposed policy. The objections should be coming from AT&T and Verizon however---NOT Apple.

Jarahawk said:Apple can set ANY price it desires for its iphone. Period. This isn't about profits. It's about control. It's as simple as that. They want to sue everyone and yet when they get sued Obama bails them out. Well...can't have it two ways, bub. It's time to pay the piper. I'm not even a fan of this proposed policy. The objections should be coming from AT&T and Verizon however---NOT Apple.

Geezus--if this post were any LESS informed, it'd burst into flames. This is absolutely about profits. If Apple has to add technology to their phones, it costs them money. And no, Apple cannot 'set ANY price it desires for its iphone'--especially when demand for the iPhone is starting to wane a bit.